Tēnā koe Tangata Whenua

I acknowledge receipt of your Official Information Act 1982 (OIA) request below, received by Police on 29 August 2022.

Your reference number is IR-01-22-25995.

You can expect a response to your request on or before 26 September 2022 unless an extension is needed.

Ngā mihi
Catherine
Ministerial Services
Police National Headquarters

-----Original Message-----
From: Tangata Whenua <[FOI #20374 email]>
Sent: Monday, 29 August 2022 11:20 AM
To: Ministerial Services <[email address]>
Subject: [EXTERNAL] Official Information request - Are police employees required to Identify themselves to the public when asked for identification?

CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe.

Dear New Zealand Police,

(1) What are the lawful exemptions for an officer who refuses to identify himself/herself?

(2) When a member of the public instructs an officer to identify themselves before answering the officer's questions and the officer identifies a NUMBER instead, is that FRAUD or NEGLIGENCE?

Yours faithfully,

Tangata Whenua

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This is an Official Information request made via the FYI website.

Please use this email address for all replies to this request:
[FOI #20374 email]

Is [New Zealand Police request email] the wrong address for Official Information requests to New Zealand Police? If so, please contact us using this form:
https://fyi.org.nz/change_request/new?bo...

Disclaimer: This message and any reply that you make will be published on the internet. Our privacy and copyright policies:
https://fyi.org.nz/help/officers

If you find this service useful as an Official Information officer, please ask your web manager to link to us from your organisation's OIA or LGOIMA page.

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===============================================================
WARNING
The information contained in this email message is intended for the addressee only and may contain privileged information. It may also be subject to the provisions of section 50 of the Policing Act 2008, which creates an offence to have unlawful possession of Police property. If you are not the intended recipient of this message or have received this message in error, you must not peruse, use, distribute or copy this message or any of its contents.
Also note, the views expressed in this message may not necessarily reflect those of the New Zealand Police. If you have received this message in error, please email or telephone the sender immediately

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Tēnā koe                                  

Please find attached the response to your Official Information Act
request, received by New Zealand Police on 29 August 2022.

 

Please accept our apologies for the delay in providing you with this
response.

Ngā mihi

Sarah

Ministerial Services | Police National Headquarters

[1]wordmark transparent 

 

 

===============================================================

WARNING

The information contained in this email message is intended for the
addressee only and may contain privileged information. It may also be
subject to the provisions of section 50 of the Policing Act 2008, which
creates an offence to have unlawful possession of Police property. If you
are not the intended recipient of this message or have received this
message in error, you must not peruse, use, distribute or copy this
message or any of its contents.

Also note, the views expressed in this message may not necessarily reflect
those of the New Zealand Police. If you have received this message in
error, please email or telephone the sender immediately

References

Visible links
1. http://www.police.govt.nz/

 

Kia ora Tangata Whenua

 

In response to your request of 29 August 2022 where you asked certain
questions about Police staff identifying themselves by a number, Police
provided:

1. a link to information held about this; and

2. some examples of Acts that set out when and how Police need to identify
themselves in context-specific situations.

 

In response to your further email of 16 November 2022 in which you said:

 

"How can the public speak to a few numbers and some letters? section 4 of
the POLICING REGULATIONS 2008 states

 

"Evidence of identity and authority

The evidence of identity and authority the Commissioner is required to
provide to every Police employee under section 96(1) of the Act—

 

(a)must bear—

(i)a photographic image of the employee; and (ii)a unique identifier (for
example, an identification number) that distinguishes him or her from
every other Police employee; and

 

(b)must state,—

(i)in the case of an employee with only one name, that name:

(ii)in every other case, the employee's family name, and the other name or
names by which he or she is commonly known.

 

Reference:
[1]https://www.legislation.govt.nz/regulati...

 

This is the evidence of Identity used to confirm their identity. Why are
you deliberately trying to mislead myself and the public? Your responses
are way too late and inf this rubbish continues, I will be forced to
involve the ombudsman"

 

You have correctly identified that the Policing Act 2008 requires the
Commissioner of Police to provide each Police employee with evidence of
their identity and authority. This is given effect to in practice through
all employees receiving an identity card. The Policing Regulations 2008
provide the detail of what information appears on that card.

 

However, as you can see even from the two examples that were provided in
the last letter, when and how a Police employee needs to identify
themselves depends on the specific circumstances. For example, with regard
to section 121 of the Search and Surveillance Act (which was previously
referred to and which contains a power to stop vehicles with or without a
warrant for the purposes of search), if the person affected by such a
search requests it, the officer exercising the power must "identify
themselves either by name or unique identifier" and they are only required
to produce evidence of their identity if they are not in Police uniform.

 

If you would like advice on interpreting and applying the relevant law to
a specific situation (in order to assess whether Police acted
appropriately), you can contact your local Citizens Advice Bureau or
Community Law Centre (most offer free legal advice sessions).

 

Again, our sincere apologies for the delay in providing you with the
response to your OIA request.

 

 

Ministerial Services | Police National Headquarters

 

 

 

 

 

-----Original Message-----

From: Tangata Whenua <[2][FOI #20374 email]>

Sent: Wednesday, 16 November 2022 10:11 AM

To: Ministerial Services <[3][email address]>

Subject: [EXTERNAL] Re: OIA response IR-01-22-25995

 

CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Do not
click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know
the content is safe.

 

 

Dear Sarah (Who is Sarah?) from the Ministerial Services,

 

How can the public speak to a few numbers and some letters? section 4 of
the POLICING REGULATIONS 2008 states

 

"Evidence of identity and authority

The evidence of identity and authority the Commissioner is required to
provide to every Police employee under section 96(1) of the Act—

 

(a)must bear—

(i)a photographic image of the employee; and (ii)a unique identifier (for
example, an identification number) that distinguishes him or her from
every other Police employee; and

 

(b)must state,—

(i)in the case of an employee with only one name, that name:

(ii)in every other case, the employee's family name, and the other name or
names by which he or she is commonly known.

 

Reference:
[4]https://www.legislation.govt.nz/regulati...

 

This is the evidence of Identity used to confirm their identity. Why are
you deliberately trying to mislead myself and the public? Your responses
are way too late and inf this rubbish continues, I will be forced to
involve the ombudsman

 

Sincerely,

 

Tangata Whenua

 

-----Original Message-----

 

Tēnā koe

 

Please find attached the response to your Official Information Act 
request, received by New Zealand Police on 29 August 2022.

 

 

 

Please accept our apologies for the delay in providing you with this 
response.

 

Ngā mihi

 

Sarah

 

Ministerial Services | Police National Headquarters

 

[1]wordmark transparent

 

 

 

 

 

===============================================================

 

WARNING

 

The information contained in this email message is intended for the 
addressee only and may contain privileged information. It may also be 
subject to the provisions of section 50 of the Policing Act 2008, which 
creates an offence to have unlawful possession of Police property. If you 
are not the intended recipient of this message or have received this 
message in error, you must not peruse, use, distribute or copy this 
message or any of its contents.

 

Also note, the views expressed in this message may not necessarily
reflect  those of the New Zealand Police. If you have received this
message in  error, please email or telephone the sender immediately

 

References

 

Visible links

1. [5]http://www.police.govt.nz/

 

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Please use this email address for all replies to this request:

[6][FOI #20374 email]

 

Disclaimer: This message and any reply that you make will be published on
the internet. Our privacy and copyright policies:

[7]https://fyi.org.nz/help/officers

 

If you find this service useful as an Official Information officer, please
ask your web manager to link to us from your organisation's OIA or LGOIMA
page.

 

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References

Visible links
1. https://www.legislation.govt.nz/regulati...
2. mailto:[FOI #20374 email]
3. mailto:[email address]
4. https://www.legislation.govt.nz/regulati...
5. http://www.police.govt.nz/
6. mailto:[FOI #20374 email]
7. https://fyi.org.nz/help/officers

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